Despite some talk out of Florida that the Marlins won’t deal Johnson, who can become a free agent after 2014, the 28-year-old will be trade bait. The Marlins would likely get a boatload back from teams such as Baltimore, Toronto, Boston, Kansas City, Minnesota, Texas, and the Dodgers. The Red Sox were interested at the trade deadline. The 69-win Marlins look as if they’re cleaning house again and they, like Cleveland, could be a good trading partner for the Red Sox.

Johnson's name came up near the trade deadline in July, and the Marlins could look to maximize their potential return by dealing him this offseason. He has one more year left on his current contract, during which he is due $13.75 million.

The injury-prone Johnson pitched a full season in 2012, but he fell off from his performance level in earlier seasons. Still, he went 8-14 with a 3.81 ERA and had 165 strikeouts in 191 1/3 innings.